About Me

Married for 44 years I have two grown-up daughters and two grandchildren. We live quietly in the SW of England where we tend our large garden and enjoy cooking with the produce. I love reading - and writing about what I read. Fav. books include crime, fantasy, sci fi, horror, YA, Victorian ghost stories, non-fiction such as travel books, essays, history and biographies.

3. Space Plague - Zac Harrison. Book six in the 'Hyperspace High' series. I've been reading this six part (so far) series at my grand-daughter's (and her mum and dad's) recommendation. They're fun, undemanding reads about an Earth boy who mistakenly gets picked up to go to a new school and ends up in space in a space-ship high-school with kids from thousands of planets. This is science fiction for younger readers and anyone young at heart who wants a quick sci-fi read. Great too, I would think, for boys who're reluctant readers. I've enjoyed them all.

9. Tentacles - Roland Smith. Another series I've been reading with my eldest daughter's family. Twins at a private school find out their explorer parents have gone missing in Brazil and that they have to go and live with an uncle they didn't know they had, on an island. Turns out he's a scientist who searches for crytids - animals that have never been proved to exist or have gone extinct. In the first book, Jungle Hunters, they go searching for dinosaur eggs and in book two they're after a kraken - a giant squid. There are loads of complications and twists with family and so forth, and all in all these books are rather entertaining.

10. The Talisman Ring - Georgette Heyer. To be reviewed.

My plan this year is to try and read more books from own bookshelves. So how has that panned out this month? Well... of these ten, five were library books, one belongs to my grand-daughter and four were my own. Hmm. I'm doing Bev's Mount TBR challenge this year and have signed up for forty eight books. Which means reading four of my own books each month. So I'm on course for that, no problem, *but* part of me wants to do a bit better than that so I need to concentrate a bit harder and apply myself.

Of the ten books two were non-fiction, autobiographies in fact, again 'must try harder'. I did manage to read several books for various other challenges and am pleased with the start I've made on those. So, a swings and roundabouts month really but one thing I will say: I enjoyed all the books I read and that really is the most important thing. Favourite book? A difficult choice but I think it'll have to be a tie between:

And:

... which I will review over the next day or two hopefully. Strange that these two books were written within four years of each other, The Long Winter in 1940 and The Talisman Ring in 1936. Am I getting a taste for older books I ask myself...

Everyone seems to be suffering with the weather at the moment... snow and freezing temps in North America, rain and floods over here etc. I hope everyone is safe and dry and warm and has lots of good books to read.

6 comments:

meanwhile your sis across the pond has read 2 books for January LOL..to be honest it would have been 3 by honestly my eyes are really needing the cataracts taken care of AND the book I am reading is over 900 pgs HOWEVER, only about 675 are for reading the rest is reference and appendix and such.. I have about 100 pages to go to finish it. Bad thing is that some bigraphies are not so compelling that you read fast. The Roosevelt books I read faster then this one but it still gives me much more understanding of the things I've heard over the years about Walt Disney.

(so, so sorry we haven't talked alot.. I feel like I don't want to a good friendship by my depression and health goings on. I like having a "sis" ..:o) )

The weather is good for reading - if for nothing else. Well done, and good that you're on target for 48 books - me too!

We've been lucky here as the weather this winter is the best we've had since we moved here 4 years ago - no snow (so far, keeping my fingers crossed it stays that way)and no floods either. But it is cold and windy!

Nothing like those 'old' books! although I seem to be getting away from them lately. Maybe we've changed reading mojo with each other:) Good reading month! I only got 6 3/4 read. It's amazing how hard it is to read books on our own shelves isn't it?